Damaged and Afraid

Chapter 1

He had a hungry look in his eyes. A dangerous look.  A deadly look. 

He slowly walked toward her. His eyes never left her.

 “Please don’t do this! Leave me alone! Please!” she begged.  Sanjana begged and begged as if her life depended on it.  Her pleas fell on deaf ears.  Arjun ignored her and continued to taunt her. 

“You’re beautiful.” He whispered. 

Tears filled Sanjana’s eyes.  She pleaded with him. 

“Please Arjun! I’ll do whatever you want, just not this. You don’t have to do this.  Please!” Sanjana cried. 

“I know you want this.” Arjun said. 

He grabbed her and flung her onto his bed.  Sanjana screamed.  She struggled against his grip, but he was too strong.  He ripped open her blouse. He trapped her hands above her head with one arm as he continued to tear her clothes with his free hand. 

“Arjun! Please!” was all Sanjana could manage to say. 

She screamed for help, but she knew that the whole building was left vacant and the nearest neighbor was miles away. 

Arjun’s eyes raked over Sanjana’s bare body.  Sanjana wrapped her arms around herself, clutching at the sheets, attempting to cover herself.  Arjun roughly pulled the sheets away from Sanjana.  He lied down on top of her.  He peeled his own clothes off.  Sanjana turned away from him too embarrassed to watch him.  His hands moved freely over her body. 

“Sanjana,” he whispered.  His lips brushed against her ear.  She shuddered at his touch.  She closed her eyes, giving up hope.  There was nothing she could do. 

She felt a sharp object push into her abdomen.  Blood rushed from her stomach.  Arjun dragged a knife over the length of her stomach down to her hip. Sanjana screamed out in pain.  He cut her again on her back.  She lied there in a pool of her own blood in pain. 

Arjun found some sort of twisted pleasure from the sight of Sanjana’s blood.  He forced himself into her.  Sanjana shrieked in pain.  She felt numb.  She felt hopeless. 

“You will always remember tonight.  You will always remember me.” He said. 

            Sanjana jolted awake.  She started looking around her, trying to decipher her unfamiliar surroundings.  Then she remembered that she was staying with her aunt in Delhi.  Sanjana’s family sent her away to live with her aunt in America after the incident occurred, the incident with Arjun.  No on in her family knew all of the details, not even her aunt, but what they did know was enough to label her the black sheep of the family. 

            Sanjana stood up and made her way out of the bedroom and into the hallway.  She traced her fingers along the gold plated picture frames that lines the long hallway.  Sanjana stood in the open doorway of her aunt’s bedroom, wanting to talk to her, but she was fast asleep.  Sanjana’s Bua, meaning paternal aunt, was Sanjana’s father’s older sister.  She got married to rich businessman, based in New York.  He died of a heart attack five years after they got married, but Sanjana’s Bua decided to stay in America and take over her late husband’s business ventures.  She never came back to the village, where Sanjana’s family lived but has always remained cordial with Sanjana since she was her only niece.  So when Sanjana got into all this trouble, her Bua was the only one of her relatives who stood by her.  And now, Sanjana was on her way to America to start a new life away from all the rumors.